The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-10-12

Tor this one, ne Hnaily saiu 10 ms
American.
"The Yankee did not reply; and the
Frenchman, assuming that his offer
was accepted, placed the ring on a lit.
tie ledge behind him and opened his
desk for hts check. book.
"Not so fast, said Brother iona
than; the diamonds not for sale.
Two thousand six hundred
francs, was the Frenchman's reply.
"The American shook his head.
"Seven hundred-eig hundred
"'Nol'
mine hunnred-three thousand
francesl That is my last offer. Pause,
| beg of you, Monsieur, before you re-
fuse it. 1t is a large sum-three thou
sand francs, and, as ii he were con-
WINGED that no one could refuse such
q price, he put the stone once more
among his own treasures and again
turned round for his check-book.
"Thunderl' exclaimed the Yankee:
what do you take me for? i tell you
/ can't and | won't sell the ring. 1t
was as good as sold to this British
gentleman last night, and 1T isn't
mine to sell any more. Give me the
ring.
$50 saying the American took the
ring rather sharply from the jewelers.
hand and placed it on his finger. The
Frenchman next made me an offer tor
the trinket; but as had not bought
it for myself, OF course / could not
sell it, and we left the shop.
"My mind was clear now as to the
prudence OF giving ESQ for the dia-
mond. had heard the best jeweler
in the town offer 5000 frances or
e120 for it.
"'Well, must say you have acted
most honorably, said to the
American, when we reached the
street. After all, bargain
can't be all on one side, and |
had never promised to buy the ring,
so you had perfect legal right to sell
1t to the Frenchman.'
:" You needn't say no more,
stranger, said the Yankee, as ii he were
tired OF the subject. You can hev the
stone now. ii you choose, at the price
we fixed on last night, and he held
he ring out to me.
"But had to get my letter OF cred
it cashed, and | agreed to meet the
American in the billiard-room in an
hours's time and conclude the tran
saction.
mo one was in the biliard-room
when | entered it (for it was still ear
ly in the day. except the American,
who was standing by the empty fire.
place. The transfer did not occupy
more than five seconds, and
the Yankee Immediately proposed
drinks. These being discussed, we
separated, and saw no more OF my
friend from the States that day.
'SThat evening after dinner had
pened to be sitting not far from the
fireplace in the billiard-room, when
noticed n small round object lying
lust inside the marble lender. Curious
TO know what it was left my seat
and picked it up. 1t was jewelers.
ring case-not an uncommon article,
certainly, yet hardly the sort OF thing
one often sees on the floor OF a bill
liard-room.
Suddenly remembered that the
American had been standing close to
the spot where | found it, when, ear
lier in the day, had exchanged my
1000 francs worth OF notes for his
diamond. An uncomfortable feel
ing crossed my mind. What did he
want with a ring caseY He had
been wearing the ring he sold to me.
He might have kept a case for it, OF
course and might have thrown it
away when he parted with the ring;
yet that seemed an unusual sor. OF a
thing for man to do.
81 opened the case. The makers
name was inscribed in gilt letters in
side the lid, and the address givenwas
Paris. Parisl' said to myself. He
said the ring had been bought in Bra
zil.' There was no real ground for
suspicion, yet ] was uneasy. | went
upst airs and took out the ring. The
pattern-you see it is peculiar one
/ remembered well. Somehow /
Judged, or fancied, that the diamond
did not shine as brightly as it had
done the night before.
Next morning took the ring to q
second jeweler and asked him his
opinion as to its value. He exam
med the diamond carefully and laid it
down on the glass case before him
with one contemptuous word:
"'Pastel
"'Pastel' echoed. 'Impossiblel
Certainly paste, and a very good
imitation he replied, turning away.
"My heart sank within me. Eighty
pounds was a sum could i'll afford to
loose. 1t meant a summary end to
my holidays. not to speak OF embar-
easements that would last some time.
with faint hope that the second
expert had been mistaken, ! took the
ring to the jeweler who had offered the